ACLU: Suit settled over limiting sex offenders at shelters

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — Advocates for the homeless have settled a lawsuit challenging a law that limits the number of registered sex offenders at shelters.

The law puts a 10-percent limit on the number of shelter beds given to registered sex offenders. The state wasn’t enforcing it while a judge considered the legal challenge.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Rhode Island said Wednesday that under the settlement agreement, shelter providers won’t exceed the limitations as long as they report the names of people housed overnight to local police and that they’ve considered available alternative shelters or housing.

Cranston lawmakers pushed for the law, which passed last year, because of the number of sex offenders staying at the Harrington Hall shelter.